With Election Day less than a week away, school administrators and elected officials are working to ensure Montgomery County voters are informed about items on the ballot. At an informational meeting held by the Chambers of Magnolia Legislative Alliance on Oct. 27, residents gathered to hear presentations on three bonds and seven constitutional amendments that will affect Montgomery County. Magnolia ISD bond Two Magnolia ISD bond propositions are on the ballot this year to fund new projects and improvements for the district. Although the district has not issued a bond election in 11 years, MISD Superintendent Todd Stephens said bond funds are now necessary to prepare for projected growth and to prevent overcrowding in existing schools. “As the growth has begun to tick back up … we’ve had to figure out where we need to go with this increased enrollment,” he said. “In just a few short years, we’re going to have two elementary campuses that are going to be over capacity.” Stephens said a Facilities Planning Committee of about 40 community members, including parents of MISD students, chamber of commerce members and other residents, helped craft the bond proposals. One of the biggest projects in the bond is the creation of two fifth- and sixth-grade campuses on either side of the district to reduce capacity percentages in elementary schools districtwide, Stephens said. The first MISD bond proposal, Proposition 1, totals $84 million. There are several projects included in the bond, such as the creation of a new fifth- and sixth-grade campus, addition of fifth-grade classes to the Bear Branch 6th Grade Campus, purchase of 10 new school buses and renovation of existing schools. The second proposal, Proposition 2, will fund a $6 million, 20,000-square-foot conference center and a $2 million artificial turf installation on the district’s two high school football fields. Montgomery County road bond A $280 million road bond is also up for voter approval this November. Montgomery County Judge Craig Doyal spoke during the Oct. 27 meeting. Doyal said with the growth in Montgomery County, traffic will not improve without expanded roadways. “Montgomery County is the seventh fastest-growing county in the nation,” Doyal said. “It’s been 10 years since we passed a bond issue to build new roads. The projection is that by 2035, we’ll [total] a million people, which very simply means that every car you passed on the way here—double it.” Doyal said the proposed bond would fund a list of more than 70 road projects. With the exception of the Woodlands Parkway extension and Robinson Road improvements, the proposal remains unchanged from the bond that failed to pass in the May election. “We worked really hard to find a way to get this bond put together,” Doyal said. “[Montgomery County Precinct 2 Commissioner] Charlie Riley and I set aside our political swords and sat down with some of the opposition … and came up with some solutions. This bond issue is back out there now for [voters] to decide on.” A full list of projects on the proposed Montgomery County road bond can be found at www.mctx.org/roadbond.  Constitutional amendments To close the meeting, State Rep. Cecil Bell Jr., R-Magnolia, gave a brief overview of each of the seven constitutional amendments on the ballot before encouraging the audience to remember to vote. “It’s very important that we get out and vote,” Bell said. “We live in a form of government that allows us to heard, but only if we get out and do our part as citizens. Everybody has an opinion, but only votes are counted.” The last day of early voting is Oct. 30, and Election Day is Nov. 3. For information on where to vote throughout Montgomery and Harris Counties, check our 2015 Election Guide here.